A computer network, such as the Internet, allows users to transmit data to and receive data from one or more sites or servers associated with the network.
Remote access provides a client computerized device the ability to log onto or access a computer network from a “remote” location. The term “remote” does not refer to physical distance, but rather to a location that is not part of a configured network. One conventional form of remote access involves the use of a virtual private network (VPN). The VPN is a type of private network constructed using a public network infrastructure (e.g., the Internet) to connect divergent network nodes (e.g., remote sites or users). Instead of using a dedicated, physical connection, such as a leased line, a VPN uses “virtual” connections routed from, for example, a company's private central network through a public network (e.g., the Internet) to a remote site or to a remote employee on the road or working from home. Such “virtual” connections are formed in a process known as tunneling. VPN's are conventionally constructed to operate over a public network through the use of a combination of data encapsulation, data encryption, and user authentication.
One of the several types of conventional remote-access VPN environments involves using a client application at a remote site, such as a software client application installed on a remote computer, to connect to a central site, such as a corporate network. A typical example of a VPN employing a software client device is a home-office computer or a laptop of a mobile worker. To establish a VPN connection, a user decides to either transmit or receive data or traffic using the VPN. Conventionally, the user actively engages the software client application and, as a result, the client computer connects to the central site (e.g., a concentrator of a corporate network) via a telephone connection or an Internet Service Provider connection to the Internet. The VPN software client establishes a secure, encrypted tunnel from the client device to the central site over the Internet. Access and authorization to the central site are then controlled from the central site.
While many home computers communicate with the Internet over phone lines, conventional business computers communicate with networks using an Ethernet connection. In an Ethernet network, an Ethernet cable provides a link between a computer's Ethernet adapter and the network. An alternative to Ethernet-connecting computers and other devices to a network involves the use of a wireless local area network (WLAN). With a WLAN, a wireless transceiver (e.g., access point) is Ethernet-connected to the network. The access point uses radio frequency (RF) signals, or radio waves, to communicate with WLAN client adapters in computers and other devices. With a WLAN, then, the medium for communications between a client device and the network is not an Ethernet cable but radio waves that travel between the client device and the access point on the Ethernet network. A WLAN enables a user to move his computer within a geographic area encompassed by the WLAN while maintaining his connection to the network.